Urinary incontinence slings can be made of synthetic mesh, non-synthetic
mesh or autologous tissue harvested from the patient to create a sling
or hammock under the patients urethra or bladder neck (the area of
thickened muscle where the bladder connects to the urethra). Vaginal
slings always require a surgical procedure for installation; however,
the degree of invasiveness of the procedure varies depending on the type
of sling.

Procedure options include the installation of tension-free vaginal tape
surgery (TVT) for mid-urethral sling procedures, transobturator tape
slings (TOT) for the transobturator approach and single-incision, also
known as mini-slings, for SUI.

The mid-urethral sling procedure is the most common surgery for
incontinence and is a minimally-invasive, outpatient procedure. Although
the mid-urethral procedure has been successful for many women, many
national health authorities such as the FDA have issued warnings about
the complications and side-effects which have been documented with
surgical mesh procedures.

There are four main categories recognized for urinary incontinence, with
50% of cases diagnosed as stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Surgical
treatment using a urinary incontinence sling is one of the most
recommended options to help SUI patients become incontinence-free.